2007/759/EC: Commission Decision of 19 November 2007 amending Decision 2006/504/EC as regards frequency of controls on peanuts and derived products originating in or consigned from Brazil due to contamination risks of these products by aflatoxins (notified under document number C(2007) 5516) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2007-11-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Brazil, carcinogenic substance, food safety, foodstuffs legislation, groundnut, import, plant health control

L 305/56

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

23.11.2007

COMMISSION DECISION

of 19 November 2007

amending Decision 2006/504/EC as regards frequency of controls on peanuts and derived products
originating in or consigned from Brazil due to contamination risks of these products by aflatoxins

(notified under document number C(2007) 5516)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2007/759/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(4)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down
the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing
the European Food Safety Authority
and laying down
food safety (1), and in particular
procedures in matters of
Article 53(1)(b)(ii) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Commission Decision 2006/504/EC (2) establishes special
conditions governing certain foodstuffs imported from
certain third countries due to contamination risks of
these products by aflatoxins.

The Scientific Committee for Food has noted that
aflatoxin B1 is a potent genotoxic carcinogen and, even
at extremely low levels, contributes to the risk of liver
cancer. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of
19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain
contaminants
lays down permitted
maximum levels of aflatoxins in foodstuffs. However, in
2005 and 2006 an increasing number of notifications
through the Rapid Alert System for Feed and Food
(RASFF) indicated that those maximum levels have been
regularly exceeded in peanuts and derived products from
Brazil.

in foodstuffs (3)

(3)

Such contamination constitutes a threat to public health
in the Community. It is therefore appropriate to adopt
special measures at Community level.

(1) OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission

Regulation (EC) No 575/2006 (OJ L 100, 8.4.2006, p. 3).

(2) OJ L 199, 21.7.2006, p. 21. Decision as last amended by Decision

2007/563/EC (OJ L 215, 18.8.2007, p. 18).

(3) OJ L 364, 20.12.2006, p. 5. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1126/2007 (OJ L 255, 29.9.2007, p. 14).

aflatoxin contamination levels

The Commission Food and Veterinary Office (FVO)
carried out a mission in Brazil from 25 April to 4 May
2007 in order to assess the control systems in place to
prevent
in peanuts
intended for export to the Community (4). That mission
revealed that the system for control of peanuts exported
to the Community is in place but not fully implemented.
Therefore the current system does not fully ensure that
peanuts exported to the Community comply with the
relevant requirements as regards aflatoxin.

In the interest of public health, the import of peanuts
and derived products into the Community from Brazil
should be subject to increased frequency of sampling and
analysis of aflatoxin levels by the competent authority of
the importing Member State, prior to the release of these
products onto the market.

Article 15(5) of the Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April
2004 on official controls performed to ensure the veri-
fication of compliance with feed and food law, animal
health and animal welfare rules (5) provides that a list of
feed and food of non-animal origin shall be drawn up to
be subject to an increased level of official control on the
basis of a known or emerging risk. The measures referred
to in Article 15(5) of that Regulation will not apply
before 2008. For the protection of public health it is
appropriate to impose increased frequency of controls
as regards aflatoxins in peanuts from Brazil without
delay. For the time being, no health certificate issued
is required for
by the competent authorities of Brazil
the import of peanuts and derived products from Brazil.

Commission Decision 2006/504/EC should therefore be
amended accordingly.

The measures provided for
accordance with
Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

in this Decision are in
Standing
the

opinion

the

of

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(4) Report of a mission carried out in Brazil from 25 April to 4 May
2007 in order to assess the control systems in place to control
aflatoxin contamination in peanuts intended for export into the
European Union (DG (SANCO)/7182/2007 — MR).

(5) OJ L 165, 30.4.2004, p. 1, as corrected by OJ L 191, 28.5.2004,
p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No
1791/2006 (OJ L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 1).

23.11.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 305/57

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

3. In paragraph 2 of Article 5, point (a)

is replaced by the

following:

Article 1

Decision 2006/504/EC is amended as follows:

1. In point

(a) of

the second paragraph of Article 1,

the

following points (iii), (iv) and (v) are added:

‘(a) each consignment of foodstuffs from Brazil; except for
the peanuts referred to in points (a)(iii), (iv) and (v) of the
second paragraph of Article 1, where sampling must be
carried out on 50 % of such consignments of peanuts
from Brazil;’.

‘(iii) peanuts

falling within CN code 1202 10 90 or

1202 20 00;

4. In Article 7, the following paragraph 3 is added:

(iv) peanuts

falling within CN code 2008 11 94 (in
immediate packings of a net content exceeding 1 kg)
or 2008 11 98 (in immediate packings of
a net
content not exceeding 1 kg);

(v) roasted peanuts falling within CN codes 2008 11 92 (in
immediate packings of a net content exceeding 1 kg) or
2008 11 96 (in immediate packings of a net content not
exceeding 1 kg);’

This Article does not apply to the imports of the
(iv) and (v) of the

‘3.
peanuts referred to in points (a)
second paragraph of Article 1.’

(iii),

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

2. In Article 3, the following paragraph 9 is added:

Done at Brussels, 19 November 2007.

This Article does not apply to the imports of the
(iv) and (v) of the

‘9.
peanuts referred to in points (a)
second paragraph of Article 1.’

(iii),

For the Commission

Markos KYPRIANOU
Member of the Commission